Atlantic Canada facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Atlantic Canada Provinces de l'Atlantique  (French)
Region
Atlantic Canada (red) within the rest of Canada
Country	Canada
Composition	New Brunswick Newfoundland and Labrador Nova Scotia Prince Edward Island
Most populous municipality	Halifax
Area
• Total	488,000 km2 (188,000 sq mi)
Population  (2021)
• Total	2,409,874
• Density	4/km2 (10/sq mi)

Atlantic Canada, also called the Atlantic provinces (French: provinces de l'Atlantique), is the region of Eastern Canada comprising the provinces located on the Atlantic coast, excluding Quebec. The four provinces are New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. As of 2021, the landmass of the four Atlantic provinces was approximately 488,000 km² (188,000 sq mi), and had a population of over 2.4 million people. The provinces combined had an approximate GDP of $121.888 billion in 2011. The term Atlantic Canada was popularized following the admission of Newfoundland as a Canadian province in 1949.

History

French map of New France and Atlantic Canada, published around 1799

Historical map showing parts of Atlantic Canada

The Atlantic Provinces are the historical territories of the Mi'kmaq, Naskapi, Beothuk and Nunatsiavut peoples. The people of Nunatsiavut are the Labrador inuit (Labradormiut), who are descended from the Thule people. Acadia, a colony of New France, was established in areas of present day Atlantic Canada in 1604, under the leadership of Samuel de Champlain and Pierre Dugua, Sieur de Mons. The French would form alliances with many indigenous groups within Atlantic Canada, including the Mi'kmaq of Acadia, who joined the Wabanaki Confederacy, important allies to New France.

The first premier of Newfoundland, Joey Smallwood, coined the term "Atlantic Canada" when the Dominion of Newfoundland joined Canada in 1949. He believed that it would have been presumptuous for Newfoundland to assume that it could include itself within the existing term "Maritime provinces," which was used to describe the cultural similarities shared by New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia, which entered Confederation during the 19th century (New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were founding members of the Dominion of Canada in 1867, and Prince Edward Island joined in 1873).

Geography

Although Quebec has a physical Atlantic coast on the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it is generally not considered an Atlantic Province; instead, it is classified as part of Central Canada, along with Ontario.

Atlantic and Central Canada together are also known as Eastern Canada. Atlantic Canada includes a section of the Appalachian Mountains known as the Appalachian Uplands. In each Atlantic province, Upland regions have been divided into three highland areas. The mountain range results in coastal regions being fjorded. Some areas contain glaciofluvial deposits.

The following tables use Statistics Canada's 2021 census data.

Municipal geography

Provincial geography

Flag of New Brunswick

Flag of Prince Edward Island

Flag of Nova Scotia

Flag of Newfoundland and Labrador

Demographics

The following tables provide 2021 census figures for "Metropolitan Areas" (built from entire municipalities) and "Population Centres" (limited to actual continuously-built-up areas) in Atlantic Canada. The list includes communities above 15,000, by Metropolitan Area population, or 10,000 by Population Centre population.

Municipal populations

Provincial populations

Economy

Atlantic Canada's primary natural resource industries include fishing, hydroelectricity, forestry, and mining. The Atlantic provinces contribute to around 75% of Canada's fish production, with many coastal communities primarily dependent on fisheries. The access point for many of such fisheries being the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Atlantic continental shelf.

Nova Scotia produces 75% of Canada's gypsum. Salt and iron is also mined in the Atlantic provinces.

See also

In Spanish: Provincias atlánticas de Canadá para niños